Article excerpt

Last week's revelation by the Mexican government that it had
arrested its top antidrug official because he was on the payroll of
the nation's largest and most vicious drug cartel came at a bad
time. It was just 15 days before President Clinton has to decide
whether or not to "certify" that Mexico (and other producing and
transit countries) cooperates fully with the United States in the
fight against narcotics. Rather than a cause for denying Mexico
certification, which would leave that country open to a variety of
US economic sanctions, the events underscore the deep flaws in the
certification process.

In the first instance, it is almost always misleading to
classify a country, in a cut-and-dried fashion, as either
cooperating or not cooperating. Most of the countries where it
really matters are doing both. Lack of full cooperation may
indicate bad faith, but it also may reflect honest differences of
opinion on how to address the problems. Some agencies of a foreign
government may be collaborating effectively while others may be
corrupt, inefficient, or stubborn. That is the case in both Mexico
and Colombia - the two countries that supply the US with most of
its drugs.

Convincing arguments can be found for certifying or decertifying
either of them, but it is a waste of time for US and foreign
officials to focus efforts on marshaling those arguments, on making
simplistic black-white distinctions. What is needed, instead, are
careful and nuanced analyses of the drug problems facing particular
countries in order to develop constructive policies and programs.
Certification turns the analysts into advocates.
Second, certification often forces the application of a double
standard. Under any circumstance, it is virtually impossible for
the US to consider decertifying Mexico. Given the degree of
economic interdependence between the two nations, we know that
decertification could seriously harm the Mexican economy, which, in
turn, would damage the economies of many US states and communities.
Only two years ago, the US lent Mexico $13 billion to halt the
collapse of its economy - because the US has such a large stake in
that country's economic success. …